News Release

Belle Grove Underground Railroad Site Recognized

Date: September 30, 2022
Contact: Amanda Pollock

Church Creek, MD – The National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom accepted the Belle Grove Plantation Escape Site, owned and managed by Belle Grove, Inc., as one of 17 new listings from the 44th round of applications, representing sites and programs in 13 states across the U.S. These new listings, alongside more than 700 sites, facilities, and programs already in the Network, provide insight into the diverse experiences of freedom seekers who bravely escaped slavery and allies who assisted them.

“Each Underground Railroad story documented by the Network to Freedom Program explains the harrowing risks people took to liberate themselves from an unjust system of oppression,” says Diane Miller, National Program Manager. “The resilience and bravery of freedom seekers and their allies continue to inspire the Network to Freedom’s work. Alongside our members, new and old, we will continue to ensure that their stories are not lost to history.”

Throughout the history of Belle Grove, at least four individuals took steps to secure their freedom. “Runaway slave advertisements” posted in newspapers throughout the early 19th century document their escapes from their enslavers. For example, in 1806, an advertisement offered a $100 for a freedom seeker named Henry, who managed to “obtain a certificate of freedom” before he escaped from Belle Grove. This same advertisement also details the escape of Daniel: a man who fled during the Easter holiday and could be noticed by “the remarkable white spot on one of his cheeks.” While we do not know much about Henry or Daniel, nor Belle Grove’s other freedom seekers, Primus and Jacob, their escapes from Belle Grove provide a critical example of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight.

Belle Grove Plantation is a historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and legislated partner in Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. Located in Middletown, Virginia, it is open to the public March through December. For the most up-to-date information to plan your visit, go to their website.

The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom serves to honor, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, which continues to inspire people worldwide. The Network currently represents over 700 locations in 39 states, plus Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Through its mission, the Network to Freedom helps to advance the idea that all human beings embrace the right to self-determination and freedom from oppression.

https://www.nps.gov/ugrr